Role of La2O3 in enhancement the properties of the BaO–B2O3 glass system: optical and radiation shielding study

Abstract

This work aims to prepare modified glassy barriers of the composition (70 − x) mol% B2O3 + 20 mol% Na2O + 10 mol% BaO + x mol% La2O3 for use as radiation shielding materials. The cooling method has been considered for the sample’s preparation process. The structural properties were investigated using density and Infrared Spectroscopy. The hardness of the prepared glasses was studied. The optical transmittance and absorbance of the prepared glasses was measured using optical spectra measurements. The prepared samples were exposed to a parallel beam of gamma rays emitted from different radioactive sources. Moreover, the shielding properties were evaluated experimentally and theoretically. The resulting value of the proposed programs is largely in line with the experimental values. The results prove that the studied glass has a largely shielding behavior for gamma rays by increasing lanthanum and vice versa for neutrons. In addition, it has been observed that the absorbance of glass samples and hardness values increase with increasing lanthanum content.